The Guardian of Bastet - Jacqueline Battisti

The Guardian of Bastet - Jacqueline Battisti

This is a paranormal fantasy novel that combines all manner of supernatural beings from werewolves and vampires to witches and shape shifters. When we first join Trinity we discover she is a descendant of Morgaine (a powerful witch) and a shape shifter. She has little magical power; shape shifts into a house cat and can mentally speak with animals. None of which makes her a powerful part of the Genesee Valley Society of Others. All of that will change when she has a solitary meeting with the only local vampire.

It turns out to be a very long week for veterinarian Dr. Trinity Caine after she learns that someone is hunting supernaturals that live in her home turf. While trying to avoid getting involved in the investigation, Trinity discovers she is at the heart of the action as it becomes centered on her. With the help of her father the puma, her mother the witch, her grandmother the super witch and Gordon, the alpha werewolf she sets out to discover who has started making trouble in the neighborhood.

This book is expertly crafted as the storyline flows from mystery to action to romance within the pages. There were some clues to the ending of the mystery that led me to believe I knew who the culprit was, but I was happily proved wrong at the end. The action packed fight sequences were written with just enough detail that it was easy to visualize without taking away from the excitement. And let’s just say that the romance portions (although there are only two in the book) are written well enough to illicit the responses I believe they were supposed to create.

The ending was neatly tied up with no loose ends and I’m not sure where the plot will pick up for the sequel, but I know I can’t wait for it to be released and see just what adventure Trinity’s life will hand to her next.

Piper Levine – A Gypsy’s Truth - Eris Kelli

Piper Levine – A Gypsy’s Truth (Book One-The Piper Levine Series) - Eris Kelli

This Fantasy Fiction book is the tale of a not just any young girl, but a senator’s daughter. Upon overhearing a conversation that the woman she has called Mom all her life is not her birthmother she runs to her Grandma Sidney’s house and starts the adventure of a lifetime.

This story of Werewolves and Vampires takes a slight turn from normal when Piper learns she is not only a Gypsy, but the heir to become Queen of the Gypsy community. Just to throw a wrench in the works she is told by her father that she is also heir to become Queen of the Vampire community. Piper wants nothing more than to return to her normal, although hated, life of a social elite.

I was wonderfully pulled into the storyline of Piper’s trials and tribulations as she is confronted with a life she didn’t know and wasn’t sure she even wanted. Piper’s growth through the story is almost unnoticeable until the end when it really shocked me to see the underlying changes come to fruition. Her life with the Gypsy’s was full of about every emotion I can think of and the author portrayed them beautifully. I sat in silence as I joined with Piper through her fear, anger, jealousy, heartache and confusion.

Piper will soon be forced to make a decision that will change the rest of her life. I, for one, can’t wait until Eris is ready to release book two of the series – The Path of Betrayal. The series will be a great read for many young adults, but I am positive it will pick up quite a few fans among the older generations of readers as well. Wonderfully written Eris, keep up the good work.

St Viper's School for Super Villains - Kim Donovan

St Viper's School fo Super Villains - Kim Donovan

This children’s book will be an exciting adventure for any elementary – junior high child. I feel Kim made an excellent merger of the X-Men and an evil version of Sky High. This is the first book of Demon’s adventures at St Vipers and even as an adult I would like to see how his Super Villain life turns out.

Demon Boy is the son of famed villain Demon King and finds he has a lot to live up to when he starts as a first year at St Viper’s. He soon learns that Super Villains enemies are not only Super Heroes, but also older Super Villain students. Chill, a senior at St Viper’s, takes an interest in making Demon and his friends his slaves so of course Demon has to get revenge.

When Chill and his cronies steal a rocket ship from the International Space Centre, Demon decides it would only be fair if they stole if from Chill. This brings on a wild space adventure for Demon and his friends that will be joy for any child to read, or to listen to as a bed time story.

I, for one, can’t wait to find out just how Demon manages his second year at St Viper’s and if he can top the amazing journey he went on this year. This is definitely the sort of book that brings out this readers inner child and I think that anyone else that reads this will come to the same conclusion.

Good writing Kim, keep it up and please hurry with Demon’s next adventure. I shall follow his career with interest.

2:32 am - Emily Ford

2:32 am - Emily Ford

I found the first book of the Djinn Masters Legacy series to be very riveting and I would throw it into the Fantasy Romance category. This is a YA book about a 17 year-old girl who gets her world turned upside down when she finds out that genies are real.

Cat has moved with her family across the United States following her father’s work, although no one exactly knows what he job really is. Cat has been having realistic dreams for as long as she can remember and seeing a dark man sitting on her bed when she wakes in the middle of the night… at 2:32 am…every night.

Cat starts out as a normal teenage girl hanging out with her friends, reconnecting with and dating the high school quarterback and her 3 brothers who play football and 1 is a budding rock star. This all changes when she is informed she has the chance to become a real life genie, with all of the magical powers it entails. However she also gets all of the problems that would accompany an all-powerful genie.

The plot starts out very mysteriously as we don’t know who the black man is, or the handsome blonde man, or the woman who looks like Cleopatra and causes Cat some pretty extreme nightmares. As the plot unfolds we slowly learn of these people and what roles they will play in Cat’s final decision of wither or not to accept Finnegan’s (black man) powers. At this point Cat’s life takes a turn for the worse as her nightmares increase as well as the disruption it’s causing with her home, school and social life.

Cat and all of her supporting characters fill the plot in nicely and Emily wrote each one of them incredibly realistically. Each has many noticeable traits and mannerisms that could apply to almost any person in real life. I found it very fun to read as Cat went through each situation and not only gained insight into the magical world, but also insight into who she is and what she wants to do with her life.

As a romance you expect the drama, and you get it, but it’s not so much that it pulls from the Fantasy portion of the storyline. It has the regular teenage angst of a YA novel intricately woven with the adult feelings of loss and regret. I wouldn’t call it a sappy romance novel, but more of a light hearted coming of age type of romance where Cat learns there is way more to life then high school and summer camp.

The ending was left open and I am waiting to see just what happens in the second book of the series. The major plot lines were all tied up, but as in real life, the romantic aspect seems to be a constantly changing aspect of Cat’s life. Will the next book hold the answers to the questions Cat still has? I can’t wait to find out!

The Lost Prince - Julie Kagawa

The Lost Prince - Julie Kagawa

This is the first book of “The Iron Fey – Call of the Forgotten” and even though I haven’t read the rest of ‘The Iron Fey’ series, it was very easy to follow. I think, however, that I will add Julie’s Iron Fey series to my ‘Must Read’ list.

This book is the story of Ethan Chase, half-brother of the fey Iron Queen Megan. Ethan has a gift; the gift of sight. He is able to see the Fey in their true forms while they are in the Earth Realm. He has been able to see them since he was 4 years old. Of course this has gotten him in to quite a few problems forcing him to keep relocating schools. Ethan has done all he can to protect himself and his family from the Fey but gets dragged into another twisted plot in Faery land.

Ethan is an excellently written character and I feel that Mackenzie is a perfect character to offset him. Ethan tries to be the type of student that kids usually want to avoid. He puts up a front as a street punk, clothes inside out, hair unkempt and a surely attitude. Mackenzie is one of the most popular girls at school and makes it her mission to get an article on this mysterious new kid that has a past filled with criminal and violent acts. These two are definitely polar opposites on the outside, but turns out that she is just what he needs to turn his life around.

The plot is a simple one; a friend has been kidnapped by the Fey and now that the Fey are aware Ethan knows, he is a target. Ethan has to try to survive the Fey attacks long enough to find his half-breed Fey friend. With is being a simple plot it is expertly written with some unforeseen twists, however there are few that are expected.

After the first few chapters the action picks up and flows pretty steady from there. With a fantasy novel such as this one would expect lots of magical battles, but that doesn’t happen. It’s mostly confined to close quarters, hand to hand combat. With that being said, the lack of magical wars don’t detract from the storyline at all, as Ethan and Kenzie are human and therefore have no magical way to battle.

The scenes are wonderfully written to where I could immerse myself in the story as if I were really there. There are no bad sections that ‘kick’ me out of the story. The author truly did her research on the geographic areas of her book and I could see myself standing in the middle of central park, even though I have never been there.

I find some books very hard to start, but it was not the case with this one. The ending was tied up neatly, with all minor and most major plot lines closed, but it still leads enough to the second book without being a cliff hanger. I eagerly await the next book ‘The Traitor Son’ to see what life brings for Ethan and Mackenzie.

Crewel - Gennifer Albin

Crewel – Gennifer Albin

This is a debut book from Gennifer and I must say it’s a fresh perspective in Fantasy Fiction.

The story line about a world that is woven like a tapestry and all of the elements of the world are the strings… highly original. Just imagine the person who controls the weaving, controls the world.

The character development in the book is excellent. I grow with Adelice as she lives the experiences that take her from an innocent sixteen year old girl and transform her into a Spinster that controls the destiny of the entire world they live in.

The plot flows perfectly from one twist to the next. Up until the end of the book I thought I had a pretty good take on who was on whose sides…. Boy was I surprised. The pace flowed fairly fast and was easy enough to follow. The action started somewhere around chapter 2 and stayed fresh the rest of the way through. Generally when I think of Fantasy novels I think of sword fights, laser fights, Magik, that sort of action, but this book was exciting and different. There was no need for violence when someone could simply remove your thread from the weave and poof….. gone. With that being said, this was more a mentally exciting book that keep you thinking and trying to figure out the ending.

The world Gennifer built was realistic enough, but the thing I liked about her storyline was that if something was missing or wasn’t quite right, it could be easily manipulated by just moving a few threads from one place to another and you had what you needed within seconds.

I have to say there is quite a bit of a cliff hanger at the end of the book…. I think I have figured out what is going to happen in the next book, but every time I have thought that so far I have been generally wrong. I guess I will just have to wait until the next book from the Crewel World series to see how good of a guesser I am.

Hounded - Kevin Hearne

Hounded - Volume 1 'The Iron Druid Chronicles' - Kevin Hearne

This is the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and I would say its shaping up to be a wonderful Fantasy Fiction series. I would say there is not a lot of character development, but the action and the twists and turns in the plot more than make up for it in this readers opinion.

Atticus O’Sullivan, a seemingly college-aged man running an occult book store, is really a 2100 year old druid; the last druid to be exact. Atticus, being a druid and deriving his powers from the tattoos on his body connecting him to the earth, hasn’t had an affinity for witches since his friend was killed by one early in his life.

Atticus he has been chased by the god of love – Aenghus Óg. Aenghus wants a sword that he claims Atticus stole sometime around 150 A.D. Since this time Atticus has been chased by different creatures ranging from Faeries to Demons, each unsuccessful in their attempts to kill him and retrieve the fabled sword Fragarach, ‘the Answerer’. The latest attempt by 5 Fae happened outside his shop.

After learning from the Gods (yes they are real…. ALL of them) that he has once again been found and Aenghus is on his way, Atticus decides 2000 years of running has been enough. Enlisting the help of his Lawyers, the werewolf and the vampire, Atticus makes a plan to finally rid himself of the god of love; however in doing so he also unwittingly enters into a pact with the local witch coven.

Nothing goes to plan, as usual, and his wolf lawyer and his faithful Wolfhound Oberon are kidnapped by the head witch and held for ransom, only to be exchanged for the sword. The queen of the Druidic gods and the queen of the hunt each visit Atticus in turn promising him assistance and gifts to defeat Aenghus. In his travels around town setting things in motion, he gets an offer from a witch with split personalities, one a long dead Indian witch, the other a young girl anxious to become an apprentice Druid.

The book is full of action, cover to cover and twists and turns in the plot keeps the story extremely interesting. You will have to read to find out if Atticus’ plans work or if the god of love will finally get his revenge. However the best laid plans of Druids never take into account the deceit cloaked in the honeyed words of beautiful goddesses.

My biggest question at the end of this magical tale still remains unanswered. How soon can I make it to the store to purchase Hexed, the second volume in the Iron Druid Chronicles?

Colonization - Aubrie Dionne

Colonization - Volume 1 Paradise Reclaimed – Aubrie Dionne

In this Sci-fi novel, the romance portion sneaks up on you before you have the chance to realize it’s a romance novel. This is Volume 1 of the Paradise Reclaimed series and I feel it’s an excellent way to start the series.

Andromeda, “Annie”, is a member of the 8th generation on the colony ship New Dawn. Earth’s sun was failing and the residents constructed 21 of these ships to continue the human race. Each ship headed to a different world with the hopes that one would survive and thrive into a new civilization.

Annie lives life hoping that things will continue on as they have. She prays they never reach Paradise 21. She enjoys the life she has lived with her best friend, Sirius. Annie dreads the finality of Paradise 21. Each generation has lived by ‘The Guide’, a computer program that assigns everyone what they need to continue surviving. When they arrive at Paradise 21, the Guide will assign Annie a job and a life mate. She fears she will fail her school tests and get a low level job, and she dreams that she gets Sirius as a mate. She decides her job as a Species Integration Specialist isn’t so bad, but her mate is Corvus, someone she has always referred to as ‘the oaf’.

She begs her grandfather to change her mate but he refuses. While trying to do her best to cope with the situation she has been forced into she starts to see alien life forms, but the catch is she’s the only one that can see them and no one else believes her. After being frightened out of her mind several times by the encounters she realizes they are trying to tell her something.

Soon the head of security is found in a coma and all Annie’s focus is bent on trying to find the cause of his coma. She wants to prove to everyone she can do her job as she tries to make up for what she considers recent failures. After the head of security dies from an alien virus Annie finally discovers her true gift.

The character development in this book is true to life as the plot twists and turns in the final chapters. During her experiences on Paradise 21 and living the role she has been forced into Annie finally realizes where she belongs. But is it too late? Will Annie be able to do what her grandmother told her she was destined for? Has her determination and resolve grown enough for her to save the colony? What will happen to her if all of her new dreams come true? What if they don’t?

The story is an action packed plot with enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. As all of the plot lines are finished with the ending of the book I am not quite sure where the next volume will go, but I do know I can’t wait for it to come out and find out how Paradise 21 is treating Annie. Or should I say how Annie is treating Paradise 21?

Rise of Hope - Kaily Hart

Rise of Hope - Kaily Hart

I am not usually into romance novels, but the way Kaily combined the Fantasy Fiction with Romance peaked my interest. Rise of Hope is the first book in the Fabric of Fate series that shows great promise.

The series stars a young girl, Devon, who has been kept prisoner and allowed no physical contact. She was alone and utterly confused about who and what she was. While growing up tattoos started appearing on her body for no apparent reason. She plans her escape and is surprised to be assisted by others tattooed like her. She finds some answers she has needed her entire life, and meets someone she’d never dreamed of.

Devon and her friend Seth go through some serious soul searching and experience tremendous personal growth throughout the story. These main characters and their supporting friends are written superbly with traits that are easily identified and associated with.

I was quickly drawn in from the beginning and captivated for the entire read. I was drawn in by the Fantasy side of the story, an old endangered species of human, supernatural abilities and the like, and when the Romance portion entered the plot it flowed perfectly. The sexual content does get a little explicit but not as to detract from the storyline.

This is the first book of Kaily’s that I have read, but if the rest of them are anything like this I may have to check them out as well. Even if I’m not as interested in her other books as I was in this one, I will definitely be keeping an eye on the release dates for this series so I can continue the trek of these supernaturals to find their fellow beings.

Pale - Chris Wooding

Pale is a nicely written short story by Chris Wooding that I would classify as a Sci-Fi book. I would say the book could be read by anyone 4th grade or higher, although I believe it’s intended for high school students.

Pale is a book about a society that has developed technology that can bring people of a certain blood type back from death. Not a catastrophic, dismembering death, but a routine, run-of-the-mill, everyday death resulting from basically anything but dismemberment.

The plot serves as a moral story as it includes prejudice, karma and character realization and growth. Jed, the average “I’m better then you are because you are dead” kid gets placed into the ‘dead’ situation. Life, of lack thereof, quickly changes his outlook on the “Pale” classification of the dead people.

Pales are noticeably different with pale skin, white hair and blue eyes hence the name Pale. They are looked at as a lower class of people and treated as such. The prejudice comes in as they are abused physically, verbally and emotionally because they are different.

Jed, the good boy, becomes a Pale after a fatal accident. He now feels the abuse he used to inflict on others proving that what goes around comes around.

He has several experiences that change his view as he learns the moral of the story (so to speak). This is a good all-around book for younger kids to learn the importance of the fight against prejudice.

This is a quick book that can be read in one short sitting, it may make someone an interesting bedtime story someday.

Bowl of Heaven - Gregory Benford

Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford is a Sci-Fi book that puts a twist on the Dyson Sphere theory. The twist being that instead of a sphere surrounding a star, there is a half-sphere shaped as a bowl. The interesting part of this bowl is that instead of being a permanent structure around a star, the star was modified into a form of propulsion.

This book is the first in a series by Gregory and I think it’s a well thought out plot, if a bit lengthy of a book. There is a lot of detail provided but I don’t feel it hinders the read at all. This is more of a slow story with action packed sequences scattered throughout the pages. There is a bit of mystery in the plot as the team is trapped on an alien world with little contact to the outside, forcing them to fall back on their training to survive.

The character development is not as great as some books I have read, but their quirks and traits are slowly revealed over the course of the 515 page novel. The characters are set into a cryostasis for a few century journey to a distant star hoping to colonize and form a new Earth. During the trip they encounter this strange bowl, and due to circumstances beyond their control, their best option is to land and seek resources.

The timeline is easy enough to follow, no gaps in the sequences or scenes that would confuse the reader. There are a few unanswered plot lines at the end of the first book, but not in the sense of a cliffhanger ending.

The writing has an intellectual feel to it, basically due to the details given on the alien world, inhabitants and local geology. I would say it is one of the more traditional science fiction book styles using an original concept based on an old theory.

With that all being said, I did enjoy the book and look forward to the release of Shipstar, the next volume of the series.

Taking a sabbatical for a few weeks from my reviews…

Will be back around the first week of December…

Happy Reading All…

Twixt Heaven and Hell - Tristan Gregory

I need to start out by saying this review is different from my other reviews. I have decided to critique the book instead of trying to give you a summary. If this is what you would rather see, let me know. Otherwise I will stick to this format.

I would call this novel a stand-alone epic. Most people consider series such as Wheel of Time and Ice and Fire as Epics, but I chose to use the word Epic in a different way. Some of you may agree, some of you may not. Oh Well. Epic to me is something that will stand the test of time. I know I will always remember\reread the books by Jordan and Martin and I will enjoy every time as if it were my first. The same falls true with Twixt Heaven and Hell. Tristan, unfortunately considers it a “one and done” novel. Personally I would love for him to expand this world (as he may have done in The Wandering Tale, but I have yet to read that) and extend this into a series of “one and done” within the same world with the same characters. Sorry, had to be said…. Here’s the review….

Tristan did an amazing job creating the world in the novel. The magic used by humans is the standard wizard\sorcerer wave of the hand magic, nothing special there, however the magic used with the symbols is ingenious. Excellent idea of engraving the Angelic symbols on to different mediums.

I feel he also did an excellent job with character growth. When we first meet Darius he is a battle hardened wizard; he goes out with his regiment, the Gryphons , and makes amazing advancements for his side in the perpetual war between Heaven and Hell. During the novel Darius starts to see the follies of their ways leading to his ultimate decision near the end of the book. Tristan also portrayed the feelings of pain and loss perfectly. I almost wept with Darius over the loss of a close friend.

The supporting characters are yet another reason I would like to have more from this world. Balkan, Arric and Robert are, I feel, the three biggest supporting characters in the book. Balkan represents the family that Darius could have had, as well as the lab based research that offsets Darius’ more practical field tests. Arric is the essential barrier to Darius’ wishes for autonomy concerning decisions affecting the war. Robert is Darius’ grounding rod on the battle field, 2nd in command and best friend.

The plot is a twist on the ageless battle between good and evil, with Angles and Demons fighting openly and visually in the realm of men. Humans have been recruited by both sides in the holy war and kill each other with the magic granted them by their overseers. Darius is the one who eventually tires of the war’s losses and finds a way to change it forever.

Excellent read\reread\reread… I stick to the term Epic to describe this style of book, type of writing and the feeling it inspires in its readers, not the ‘politically correct’ term for series containing multiple novels. Great job Tristan, keep it up and give us more.

The Godling Chronicles - of Gods and Elves (Volume 2)

The Godling Chronicles - Of Gods and Elves (Volume 2) - Brian D. Anderson

If you haven’t read Volume 1, the Sword of Truth, then you may want to read that before you read this review…. Spoilers of Sword of Truth follow….

Yet another 5 star book from an amazing author in what I am sure will soon be a #1 bestselling series.

We join Gewey after his fight with the Half-man Harlondo, and he is in the Spirit world with a man claiming to be his father. In the real world, Geweys body is unconscious and severely injured. Kaylia joins Gewey through the soul bond and together they work to get Gewey’s mind back to his body.

Lord Nal’Thain sends a rescue crew to his homeland of Hazrah to remove his wife and son from danger, but as the crew soon discovers, its too late. Lee’s wife has already been taken to Angrääl by the Dark Knight’s now mobile army, and his son Jacob was imprisoned.

Doing what they can to save Jacob, they find themselves in a web of deceit and lies and Lee is forced to make a fateful decision. Maybell and Malstisos meet up with a band of humans traveling with two elves from the Steppes, but again all is not as it appears and the threat of death soon approaches.

After Gewey and Kaylia’s minds return from the spirit world, they encounter a meeting with the High Lady of Valshara, and Theopolou, and Elven Elder. It is decided that Gewey and Kaylia will accompany Theopolou and his elves back to the Chamber of the Maker with the Book of Souls.

Gewey and Kaylia decide to complete their bonding ritual in front of the Elven Elders in the Chamber of the Maker, but when he is challenged and wins, the real danger sets in as a civil battle erupts between the Elves and the Chamber is attacked; Kaylia is kidnapped by agents of the Dark Knight.

This volume of The Godling Chronicles is packed full of twists and turns. Lord Nal’Thain is confronted with his son’s deceit; halfway across the countryside Malstisos is challenged to a fight to the death by a seeker from the Steppes; Gewey tries to win the Elves to his side of the coming war; the Temple of Valshara is attacked by the Dark Knights agents; Kaylia is being taken to the Dark Knight’s kingdom of Angrääl.

I pray to the Creator that Brian D. Anderson and his son quickly turn out Volume 3 of the Godling Chronicles as I foresee this series becoming an epic tale to rival those of Jordan and Tolkien. The story is an action packed thriller and we haven’t even gotten to the true battles yet, just the side line skirmishes.

The Godling Chronicles - The Sword of Truth

The Godling Chronicles (Book 1) - Brian D. Anderson

The Sword of Truth is the first book of The Godling Chronicles by Brian Anderson. This book has a riveting plot, great character development and beautifully written Fantasy characters.

The story starts out with Gewey Stedding, a boy who was orphaned at the age of 15 when his father passed. Gewey took over the family farm and after some resistance from the community, proved he was man enough to take care of the land. Harvests were impeded by the encroaching darkness that was befalling the land, but Gewey was able to hold his own.

While making the usual delivery into town, Gewey was confronted with a resident claiming to see his dead wife up and walking through the square. After putting the issue to rest as unfounded, the local lord Starfinder presented Gewey with a letter written years ago by his father. After reading it he had a nightmare with two voices trying to convince him what to do next.

Lord Starfinder informed Gewey he was one of the voices, and the other belonged to the Dark Knight, an evil man from a thousand years ago bent on taking over the world with the power from the Sword of Truth. Starfinder convinces Gewey to leave the village and join him on a quest.

During the quest Gewey is hindered with agents of the Dark Knight trying to kidnap him to take him to the Dark Knights land Angrääl, or just to kill him outright. To aid Gewey in staying alive long enough to fulfill the prophesies Lord Starfinder finally convinces Gewey that he is in fact a Godling, the child of two Gods, one being the God of Earth. Gewey starts learning how to access his powers to be able to defend himself.

Gewey is also found by the Order of Amon Dähl, an ancient order sworn to protect the Sword of Truth. Dina, a novice in the Order, helps Gewey escape a kidnap attempt and soon joins the merry band of travelers, convincing them Gewey needs to go to the Temple Valshara, the headquarters of the Order.

This is but a taste of the tale of the Godling. Exciting adventures lie within the pages of this book and promises to enchant the reader with narrowing brushes with death, embarrassing moments of teenage love and thrilling battles between the residents of Earth.

Currently reading Dark Soul, the Complete Collection - Aleksandr Voinov

Check back soon for my review of this series...I have had to take a break from this book, but I promise I will make my way back to it soon.....

Midnight City - J. Barton Mitchell

Midnight City - J. Barton Mitchell

This is the first book in his Conquered Earth series, and I have to say I can’t wait for the next book. The way the author combined so many different fantasy and science fiction attributes was amazing. I would have to say this is an excellent combination of War of the Worlds meets Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, a lone and a rare human on a future Earth that has been taken over by an alien invasion. 10 years ago, the Assembly invaded earth. Their ships drove into the earth like giant spikes. After a short series of battles, Earth’s defenses were quickly conquered. Most of the adults of the world were subject to the Tone, a signal broadcast to the matured minds of the world that slowly caused their eyes to turn solid black and drove the infected to immediately drop whatever they were in the middle of, abandon their lives and walk to the closest Assembly ship never to be seen from again.

Holt is a Heedless; a human that is for some unknown reason, immune to the Tone. This also means he was forced to watch everyone he ever cared about abandon him and walk into the horizon. Since losing his sister, Holts only friend has been his constant companion, Max the dog. Holt is sent out to capture Mira Toombs, a Freebooter from Midnight City. After catching up to Mira, they are caught in the middle of an Assembly civil battle between the common variety of Assembly and a new faction, never seen before.

During this battle, a new type of ship appears and is quickly destroyed. It crashes into Holt and Mira’s campsite and after a quick investigation Holt finds Zoey, a young girl, not more than eight or nine years old, inside the destroyed craft. Zoey seems to have a sixth sense and can tell where the Assembly units are and also what Mira and Holt are thinking, but she remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.

After a long, grueling chase the three make their way back to Midnight City, each with a different reason for being there. Mira goes willingly to save an old friend. Holt goes to turn in Mira and claim his bounty to buy his own freedom. Zoey is drawn there but doesn’t know exactly why. Upon arrival at Midnight City nothing turns out as expected.

Within the city walls our three travelers find deceit, truths, lies and love. Will Mira save Ben, the man she has risked her life for? Will Holt get his reward and gain his freedom to live his life out in peace? What of Zoey; who is she; where did she come from; what is in her future?

This action packed book tells the tales of the beginning and if the author can keep the rest of the series as engrossing and nail biting as this first book is, then it will surely make literary history.

Mark of the Witch - Maggie Shayne

Mark of the Witch - Maggie Shayne

This is book #1 in The Portal Series. There is a prequel for those interested, but I haven’t read it yet. This is going to be another on my list of ‘Must Read’ series’. From what I can tell this series will not be one where the main characters go from book to book. The series will be based on The Portal (hence the name of the series) appearing in each book.

The characters in the book are so life like it’s unreal. They grow and change as the plot forces them to face things in their lives they would rather not have. The trials that they go through are relative to the occurrences in the fantasy world, but are also mirrors of trials we go through in real life. Maggie definitely knows how to wield an awesome pen.

In this first book, Indira is a former Wiccan whose reason for the ‘former’ is that she has lost faith in the religion. She kept performing spells to provide her with her soul mate but never found him. When she was practicing she was a Solitary Witch, a witch who never formally joined a coven.

Indira has been having a recurring dream, but this morning when she wakes, the scars from the dream are real in the waking world. She seeks out her best friend, Rayne, who is a High Priestess for the local Wiccan coven. Rayne, fearing for her friend, contacts the one person she knows she can trust, her brother the Priest.

Tomas has been charged by God, and his mentor Dom, to prevent a demon from entering the world through a portal that opens once every 3500 years. It will happen this year. It will start with a witch, a marked witch, that will bring about the apocalypse and Tomas must stop her, must stop Indira.

Tomas tries to convince Indira that she is part of this calling, that she is the witch with the power to destroy the demon and seal him in the underworld forever. Not all goes as planned.

During their adventure Tomas and Indira discover they are reincarnations of the original witch and priest involved in the events leading to the portal creation 3500 years ago.

While I was reading the book, I kept thinking “I know what is going to happen next,” but this book is full of so many twists and turns that I was pleasantly surprised with every flip of the page. Everything was neatly tied up at the end of the book so I can’t wait until next month when Daughter of the Spellcaster is released.

The Guest – Karen Dales

This is a short story that involves life, death and reincarnation. It can be read alone or as part of the Chosen Chronicles.

The Guest lives at a Buddhist monastery and performs missions for the monks. As a monk approaches old age, the Guest helps to ease their transition from this life to the next. Although the Guest performs his actions flawlessly, he is tormented by the actions he knows he must take. The shortness of the story lead me to think that I would be left with open endings, but they were neatly tied up and although it is not a cliff hanger, I am really wanting to read more. A perfect appetizer to Dales' writings.

This is the first of Karen Dales writing that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed her style and characters. Although it was only 9 pages in my Nook format she grabbed my interest within the first few chapters and provided me with a scene that contained the basics of life on earth. I am very impressed with her writing and can’t wait to read more of her work.

Incursion – Aleksandr Voinov

Incursion is a Sci-Fi novella with an unusual twist. The main hero of the story is disabled. Don’t see this much in main-stream fiction but I think Aleksandr did a wonderful job of it. All in all this book has a lot of great action sequences and has an excellent storyline for only being 70-some pages long.

The protagonist, Kyle Juenger, suffered from a debilitating attack during a battle with the Glyrinny. He lost his legs and was basically numb and useless from his bellybutton down. He was fitted with a metal bridge module that lets him connect prosthetic legs.

Kyle is now retired from the military, living on his own collecting social security. He has no steady home and was now completely out of credits. He had survived the suicidal stages of his wound and has been summoned to the Sector Commissars office. She offers him a job that will provide him with enough credits to replace his clumsy prosthetic legs with cybernetic replacements.

All he has to do now is hunt down Kshar, a Glyrinny double-agent. A shape-shifting, brain-eating morph.

He boards the Scorpion, a mercenary ship that Kshar is supposed to be taking back to Glyrinny space. Once on board he runs into an old friend, Grimm, who is also from his home world.

Unable to catch Kshar on the ground, he bides his time onboard the Scorpion until they reach their destination, Ganesh, just outside Glyrinny space. They land and Kyle and Grimm get a hotel room to clean up after their trip and Kyle gets a surprise during their male-on-male lovemaking session.

After their session Kyle wakes to a surprise. He is arrested and hauled off to jail as a Glyrinny subversive.

Will Kyle ever catch the double-agent he is looking for? Will it get him his cybernetic legs if he does? How will he make it out of jail to finish his mission when his DNA shows he is actually not Glyrinny OR Human…

A surprise ending that makes this reader wish the story didn’t end there.